Long arm of law gets longer
05/31/05

COPLINK connects police agencies, allowing them to share information on suspects.

New technology is changing the way local law enforcement agencies communicate with each other.

The new communications system, called COPLINK, will allow detectives to search the computer databases of all 21 law enforcement agencies in the Bay area.

That means criminal suspects can no longer hide behind jurisdictional lines.

As an example of COPLINK in action, police in Tucson, Ariz., were able to track down a suspected child abductor with just a nickname and basic description.

Tampa Police Chief Stephen Hogue says COPLINK is an invaluable law enforcement tool. His robbery detectives have already used the software and network to track down two armed robbers who were active both in Tampa and Hillsborough County.

"But all we had was the first name on the male suspect and the nickname of on the female," said Sgt. Dale Pricher of the Tampa Police Department. "A detective fed that information into COPLINK and we received both the first names and dates of birth on two people."

"You would've never have been able to find this information out before," Hogue said. "But now we can search everybody else's databank."

Right now, only the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater police, and Hillsborough and Pinellas County Sheriff's offices are jacked into the network. But eventually all 21 Bay area law enforcement agencies will become partners.

Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee says the system will eventually reach beyond Tampa Bay.

Tampa Police Chief Stephen Hogue says the software has already proved its worth.

"And then you'll be able to hook the actual regions up," Gee said. "You'll hook this region up to the Orlando region, with all their databases. It will eventually, over a period of time, become very, very powerful."

The network was funded through federal and state domestic security grants totaling $2.3 million. It was developed to prevent acts of terrorism in the Bay area, but it will be used for all criminal suspect searches in the area.